Excel Saga is a manga series written and illustrated by Rikdo Koshi. It has been serialized in Young King OURs since 1996, and its individual chapters were collected and published in tankōbon volumes by Shōnen Gahosha. The series follows the attempts of Across, a "secret ideological organization," to conquer the city of Fukuoka as a first step towards world domination. The titular character of the series, Excel, is a key member of the group working towards this goal, while the city is defended by a shadowy government agency led by Dr. Kabapu.
The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Victor Entertainment. Directed by Shinichi Watanabe and featuring animation from J.C.Staff, the series premiered on TV Tokyo in 1999. TV Tokyo only aired twenty-five of the series' twenty-six episodes, with the finale having been intentionally made too violent and obscene for public broadcast. As such, it was only included in the DVD release of the series, although it has since been broadcast in other markets.
The series has enjoyed some critical success coupled with respectable sales.